A tourist in my own city

Eating, drinking, seeing and cooking in london

Archive for the category “Street food”

Born & Raised @Real food festival, Southbank

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I was strolling around the Real Food Festival, trying very hard not to have my second Frenchie duck burger in a week when I noticed what is the most amazing pizza oven I have ever seen.

Yes that is a hole in the side of a Land Rover with a wood burner inside! I had to try this from a distance. Then as I got close I saw these beetroot infused sourdough beautys being turned out!

I couldn’t resist giving this one a go, but for non beetroot fans don’t worry the other pizzas are a normal sourdough. The pizza you see pictured is topped with Onion marmalade, goats cheese, with drops of beetroot puree a drizzle of balsamic reduction and baby leaves. The texture of the dough was good, with a nice chew to the crust and the smokiness that comes from a pile of burning wood next to the pizza.

Having looked on their twitter since they have some amazing topping combos so definitely check these guys out, you cant miss that land Rover!

 

 

TacoWars2, Hawker House

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On Saturday the 29th of march was the second instalment of tweat up’s TacoWars. 8 of the best assembled  to serve myself and 499 other hungry judges there best taco in a bid to be crowned 2014’s taco kings. There was pork, beef, octopus and tuna offerings with all manners of creative adornments and maybe too many chillibacks judging from the hangover on Sunday morning.

I’m going to go through the 8 in the order I put them starting with my favourite (which wasn’t the victor, but it was in the top 3)

Kimchinary: Beer braised pork belly, pickled mustard seeds, Korean pear remoulade, oyster kimchi, gochujang and pig crunch on a smoked pork fat and sesame tortilla.IMG_4431IMG_4428  IMG_4424

Breddos Tacos (the victors): 50 day aged chipotle beef short ribs with bone marrow, beef dripping tortilla, cheese croqueta, Naga jolokia pipette smoked morello cherry jam and sweet pickled jalapeños.

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Benito’s hat: Pork belly and apple tacos with homemade avocado leaf tortillas, shaved fennel, black beans, roasted pineapple, apple and habanero salsa, lime and a sprinkling of chicharron

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b.o.b.s lobster, Sashimi grade ahi tuna, wasabi guacamole, chipotle crema, Asian slaw and seasame sees in a crunchy taco

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Rita’s: Pigs head, belly and trotter, burnt spring onion crema and blood orange pico.IMG_4403 IMG_4401

Santo Remedio: chargrilled octopus marinated in Pasilla de Oaxaca chillies with black beans, yerba santa and avocado leaf in a blue corn tortilla.

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BBQ Lab, Hickory smoked peanut butter jellypork belly, popcorn pudding, candied chillies, pickleback jell, wild garlic flowers and coriander in a 100% pork loin tortilla.IMG_4423 IMG_4453

Luardos, grilled skirt steak, slasa roja, supersweet onions coriander and lime in a homemade tortilla

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Kome, at the Dolls house Hoxton square

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The Dolls house is a great venue on Hoxton Square, this is a really busy, vibrant area near old street station with loads of bars, clubs and restaurants within a five minute walk. With 4 floors and a roof terrace and a small smoking area this was a perfect location for Kome. This 4 night pop up serves LA inspired street food. 

We arrived promptly, starving and tipsy for the 9pm sitting with a tag along that they happily accepted although the event was sold out online. The only danger of the later sittings on a weekend is not getting too drunk in the couple of hours between finishing work and having dinner while in a bar.

The starters came and was one slate between two (as a group of 5 this meant extras which was perfect). There was a kimchi quesadilla, which wasn’t very spicy which for the group was probably a good thing but for me i like to know there is chilli on my kimchi, the oshinko (pickle) of cucumber,ginger and carrot which was very refreshing and a tuna tataki tostada.  These were wolfed down in seconds as we were so hungry and there were no complaints from anyone about the taste, just bickering about sharing and who had the larger half.

Next up was the Bulgogi fries, which is fries topped with korean beef, spring onions and coriander with a sauce that was kin to a burger sauce, once again sharing between two so the bitterness from the starters sharing fiasco was still fresh and the bickering continued to the entertainment of the ones who were capable of sharing. I would have happily got through one of these plates on my own as how can fries with beef on not be a winning combination which these most definitely were.

The main event came as a portion each, much to the relief of the two who had almost fallen out over the fries. What arrived was pork belly that had been glazed in agave and had perfect crackling on top of the falling apart and melt in the mouth pork. This was easily in the top 5 pieces of pork belly I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. To accompany the pork there was jasmine sticky rice, thai basil, baby leaves, asian broccoli, pickled radishes, queso fresco, crispy onions, crushed peanuts, salsa verde, sambal and a fried egg on top. When reading the menu online before booking the tickets i thought this was going to be way too much, but when all these were combined it all worked and each mouthful had a slightly different taste profile which kept me very happy. Every component of this dish was excited perfectly and therefor was great on its own and with the other parts. Full marks to the guys for putting that much effort into one dish as well.

Starting to feel quite full and rather tipsy, I was slightly worried about the size of the dessert as i would have to eat what i was given (bad habits from school). Luckily what arrived was a raspberry and hazelnut ice cream balls incased in mochi, which is rice flour and hot water combined to form a pastry that encases the ice cream, this has a pleasant chewy texture that was really nice with the ice cream, the hazelnut was by a long way the best of  the two. It is also the best hazelnut ice cream I’ve had…in fact it was so good one of the group hates nuts, but enjoyed the ice cream which is impressive.

Kome put on a great meal which was a great night out, everyone was so friendly and the service was great. i really don’t have anything bad to say about this, so if you ever see tickets available for a Kome pop up then buy them (after i have mine of course!).

Peel & Chimney, Harringay market

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Peel and Chimney make Neapolitan style pizza anywhere with their oven on wheels. I prefer my pizza more cheesy which i know isn’t authentic. On a cold sunday morning this was very welcome (the box kept my hands so warm).

The crust had the slightly chewing texture that i love and the tomato sauce rich and fresh. A good pizza, especially as its a market stall, i can’t think of lots of restaurants that could compete. Next time i will make sure i am not with a margherita lover as the beetroot and feta looked amazing!

Hawker house round 2

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So, round two at Hawker House. Still haven’t made it to B.O.B’s lobster as the queue was massive. however the Spit and Roast along with the Slider Bar fro the Breddos tacos guys.

I had the classic with cheese and the blue cheese and jalapeño with bacon salt. These perfectly formed little burgers with Soft bread, juicy little patties and molten cheese. They are the perfect nibble where there are so many options. Although you have to resist the urge to eat four or five sliders, which i easily could have done.

Spit and Roast, was selling spit roast pork belly, memphis BBQ sauce and mull cheddar grits and Banhams rotisserie chicken, Boston baked beans with corn bread. I couldn’t decide so got both. The pork belly wasn’t tough and fatty which is essential when you only have a wooden fork and the grits were creamy with a rich cheddar flavour.

The chicken, was juicy and succulent. The Boston Beans soaked into the crumbly corn bread, which i love, with a really good flavour and brought a but of sweetness to the dish. Im not a massive fan of beans but these i will happy make an exemption for.

Again another great night, and when i go back for round three i will be getting some lobster.

Hawker House

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Hawker House is Street Feast’s latest offering to London’s foodies. Its a Night food market with dj’s, bars and most importantly for something running for six weeks through November and into december it is inside! Street Feast have taken their inspiration from the Hawker centres in Singapore in the creation of this street food market, and have created a great night out, especially as its open till 2am.

Firstly the drink options, there is a hot bar where you can warm up with some hot cocktails, Street vin, which has options by the glass or the bottle and weekly magnum offerings if you really want to splash out. For the whisky lovers there is a whisky bar with over 50 different bottles to sample.

The food. Unfortunately by the time i arrived, about half nine, B.O.B’s lobster and the slider bar had run out, while Spit & Roast were out of their sit roast pork belly. No matter there was still lots to gorge on.

Rola Wala was the first stop, Essentially a 5″ naan in the style of a taco. the pulled pork with cumin, coriander,mustard seeds and curry leaves had me at pulled pork, and i was not disappointed! puffy naan with juicy pork and freshness from all the condiments and pickles that went on.

The Smokestak was next, who have a competition grade looking smoker parked outside the venue making everything around smell like smoking meat. I had the hot rib tips as the beef short rib had already been devoured by everyone who had turned up earlier. The tips were not disappointing tho, more fatty than an ordinary rib, but amazingly juicy and the BBQ sauce was so moreish, while there is no doubt these are smoked.

Yum Bun, having only discovered hirata buns a month or so ago at flesh and bun i was super exited for round two. With pork belly, cucumber, spring onion and hoisin sauce in one bun and roast duck with tamarind in the other i couldn’t see how anything could possibly go wrong, and it didn’t. Easily as good as my first experience of these little buns full of perfectly cooked meat, this could become an obsession.

Morito, Starting to feel a little sluggish by this point i resisted the lamb and went for beetroot borani with feta and walnuts with a freshly cooked flat bread. This was so refreshing and the lumps of feta with smooth beetroot and the crunch of walnuts really worked so well.

Baba G’s, a generous bowl of biriani, where none of the rice sticks to its friends after being cooked (i swear witchcraft is involved in this) and has a subtle spice and with the Royal Raj Rump as the topping there were little lumps of juicy lamb to add some great flavour. On the top of all of this was a little mount of fresh herbs and pickles, the lime pickle adding a real burst of heat every now and then that really keeps your taste buds interested in whats coming next.

By this point i was bursting at the seams. luckily as Sorbitium were there i could make use of the pudding stomach, and have a scoop of dark chocolate and tequila ice cream, and a bite of a white chocolate choc ice.

I am intending to go back a couple of times over the next couple of weeks to try the rest of the food on offer here. Next time i will be the first one in the queue to make sure i get some Breddos tacos sliders and a lobster roll!

The little welsh Rarebit

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I found the little welsh rarebit at the real food festival, south bank. 

They sell artisan cheese and meats as well as what i had, welsh rarebit. A crisp slice of bread with a rarebit mix, topped with pigs cheek, a blue cheese and pickled pear. The wafer thin cheek slices crisped up under the grill as the cheese became molten with pockets of flavour from the blue, and sweetness from the pears all combined to make this a great cheesy treat.

The Frenchie

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The Frenchie, is a street food van i went to today at the Real Food Festival in south bank. They are definitely up there in the most luxurious ingredients stake. A brioche bun with red onion chutney, confit duck, crispy duck skin a choice of blue or goats cheese with truffle honey and a sprinkling of greenery. the confit duck, cheese and truffle honey is all combined on the flat top until its an oozing mixture.

This is real street decadence! the soft bun absorbes the fat from the duck when its being warmed up, and the truffle honey and melted cheese all soak in as well.

This is a winning combination, although should be a rare treat unless a heart attack is high up on your wish list!

Le Réfectoire, Street food van

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At Dalston Yard a couple of weeks ago  i went to Tweat up’s ‘street food europe’ a collection of street food trucks from all round Europe. This little slider from the French van Le Réfectoire  was by a long way the best thing i had.

Inside the artisanal bread, was a little beef patty, compte, bacon, ketchup and fresh parsley. It was so rich and gooey, with the bread saturated with the juice from the meat, and intense bacon flavour from the thick cut pork.

They are normally found around paris and i will be making a bee-line for these guys the next time i step off the Eurostar to get this burger full size!

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